Swiss refiner Valcambi Suisse makes a precision-scored bar that breaks by hand into individual one-gram sections without losing any metal. The CombiBar now spans gold, silver, platinum and palladium, but the premium over spot climbs as the format gets smaller.
A bar that snaps apart like chocolate
Valcambi Suisse introduced the CombiBar in April 2011, a precision-scored bar that breaks apart into individual one-gram sections without cutting, melting, or losing any metal. The refiner, based in Balerna in the Swiss canton of Ticino since 1961, mints the bar with deep scoring lines between sections, the same way a chocolate bar is grooved to snap apart. Each separated piece is a fully stamped one-gram bar carrying the Valcambi logo, its fineness mark, and the assayer's stamp, and dealers worldwide recognize it on its own.
Four metals, several formats
Gold CombiBars are struck in .9999 fine gold and come in 20-gram, 50-gram, and 100-gram configurations, along with a 5-gram star-shaped bar and a 1oz bar that divides into ten 1/10oz pieces. The 50-gram bar was the original format and remains the most widely recognized. Valcambi later extended the concept to a 100-gram silver bar in .999 fine silver that splits into either 100 one-gram sections or ten 10-gram sections, then to a 50-gram platinum bar in 2012 and a 50-gram palladium bar the same year, both dividing into fifty one-gram pieces. Investors more comfortable trading silver than gold get the same break-apart flexibility in that format.
Premiums rise as the bar shrinks
Precision scoring, individual stamping, and tamper-evident packaging all add manufacturing cost, and the smaller the CombiBar format, the higher the percentage premium over spot. The 100-gram gold bar carries the most favorable per-gram premium in the range, while the 20-gram version, the smallest standard format, carries the highest. An intact bar in its original sealed packaging also commands a better resale price than one that has already been broken apart, since separated one-gram pieces trade as fractional gold and typically carry higher per-gram premiums, though dealers may apply wider spreads on the smaller units.
Who the format actually serves
The premium buys divisibility, and that trade-off only pays off for specific buyers. Investors distributing metal among heirs, gifting individual pieces, or liquidating a position gradually rather than all at once get practical use from the format, as do buyers who want a compact, portable holding: the 50-gram gold bar fits in a wallet. Investors focused purely on accumulating the most metal per dollar are better served by standard bars, which carry lower premiums and simpler resale.
Source: Blanchard and Company
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